Child maintenance is not punishment

In our work, we have come across fathers who think they are being punished when the mother of their child demands maintenance and also mothers who vow to “fix him” by demanding shocking figures of support from the father of their child.

Maintenance is not punishment; it is what is expected of a responsible person, mostly fathers and mothers, to help support their child, especially in circumstances where the child is not staying with them.

The law only comes into play to mediate when there is a dispute, in most cases, when the other party is unwilling to provide support.

This story is for NewsDay subscribers.